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Vancouver meeting focuses on sanctions as Koreas explore detente

VANCOUVER - A meeting of nations that backed South Korea in the Korean war will look at how to better implement sanctions to push North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons, officials say, even as the neighbours explore detente ahead of next month’s Winter Olympics. (NORTHKOREA-MISSILES/DIPLOMACY (UPDATE 3, PIX), moved, by David Ljunggren and David Brunnstrom, 812 words)

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump blames Senator Dick Durbin for blowing up talks on a deal to help immigrants brought to the country illegally as children and says the Democratic lawmaker misrepresented his comments about Haiti and African countries. (USA-IMMIGRATION/TRUMP (UPDATE 2), moved, by Jeff Mason, 410 words)

+ See also:

- BASKETBALL-NBA/JAMES (PIX), moved, by Rory Carroll, 350 words

- USA-IMMIGRATION/TRUMP-NIGERIA (UPDATE 1), moved, 230 words

Erdogan: we will “strangle” U.S.-backed force in Syria “before it’s even born”

BEIRUT/ISTANBUL - Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan threatens to “strangle” a planned 30,000-strong U.S.-backed force in Syria “before it’s even born”, as Washington’s backing for Kurdish fighters drives a wedge into relations with one of its main Middle East allies. (MIDEAST-CRISIS/SYRIA (UPDATE 2), moved, by Ellen Francis and Ezgi Erkoyun, 810 words)

BERLIN - Political heavyweights from Germany’s conservatives and Social Democrats seek to shore up support for talks on joining forces in a coalition, after members of the centre-left party in one region vote against a deal. (GERMANY-POLITICS/ (UPDATE 4, PIX, TV), moved, by Thomas Escritt and Joseph Nasr, 730 words)

ASIA

SYDNEY/TAIPEI - Australia’s Qantas says it has amended its website to no longer refer to Taiwan and Hong Kong as countries, rather than Chinese territories, after China issued a warning to foreign airlines. (QANTAS-CHINA/ (UPDATE 1, PIX), moved, 414 words)

JAKARTA - Indonesia’s stock exchange observes a minute’s silence at the start of trade for more than 70 people injured when a mezzanine floor in the building suddenly collapsed. (INDONESIA-STOCK EXCHANGE/ (TV, PIX), moved, by Tabita Diela, 373 words)

Veteran U.S. diplomat Richardson to work for Reuters reporters release

Former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson says he will work towards securing the release of two Reuters journalists arrested in Myanmar, in his capacity as a member of an international advisory board on the crisis in Rakhine state. (MYANMAR-JOURNALISTS/, moved, 415 words)

UNITED STATES

Thirteen siblings found chained in California home; parents charged

PERRY - A California couple is charged with torture after police rescued their 13 malnourished children from a home where some of them had been chained to beds, and neighbors describe the family as shut-ins who shunned social contact. (CALIFORNIA-HOSTAGES/ (UPDATE 4, PIX, TV), moved, by Mike Blake, 420 words)

Three still missing in California’s deadly mudslides

The number of people missing from last week’s deadly Southern California mudslides falls to three as hundreds of rescue workers search for survivors from the rain-driven slides that killed 20 people. (CALIFORNIA-MUDSLIDES/ (UPDATE 1, PIX, TV), moved, 340 words)

AMERICAS

Pope arrives in Chile to bolster battered Church credibility

SANTIAGO - Pope Francis arrives in Chile to start a trip aimed at bolstering the credibility of a local church battered by a sexual abuse crisis. (POPE-CHILE/ (UPDATE 1, PIX, TV), moved, by Dave Sherwood and Philip Pullella, 560 words)

CARACAS - Venezuelan authorities arrest five members of a “terrorist cell” linked to self-proclaimed rogue Venezuelan helicopter pilot Oscar Perez, and kill several other militants during a shootout in a poor area outside Caracas. (VENEZUELA-POLITICS/PEREZ (UPDATE 2), moved, by Alexandra Ulmer and Andreina Aponte, 565 words)

MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA

At least 20 dead as clashes shut airport in Libyan capital

TRIPOLI/TUNIS - Fierce clashes break out in the Libyan capital Tripoli, killing at least 20 people, shutting the airport, and damaging planes during what the government says is a failed attempt to spring militants from a nearby prison. (LIBYA-SECURITY/ (UPDATE 5, PIX, TV), moved, by Ahmed Elumami and Aidan Lewis, 590 words)

EUROPE

MADRID - Spain rejects as absurd suggestions that Catalan separatist Carles Puigdemont could lead the region from exile if elected president by the new Catalan parliament, and says if he is chosen Madrid would maintain direct central rule. (SPAIN-POLITICS/CATALONIA (UPDATE 2, PIX, TV), moved, 360 words)

AFRICA

JOHANNESBURG - A South African court has authorized the freezing of 1.6 billion rand ($130 million) in assets earned by global consultancy McKinsey and a firm linked to friends of President Jacob Zuma, a source at the state prosecutors’ office tells Reuters. (SAFRICA-POLITICS/MCKINSEY, moved, by Alexander Winning, 460 words)